Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Of course Argentines don't celebrate Cinco de Mayo (which is not actually Mexican Independence Day but rather a commemoration of The Battle at Puebla when Mexican soldiers fought off twice as many French soldiers in 1862,) but I will take up any excuse to eat Mexican food so we are dining at Frida Kahlo's tonight in celebration. Peter Brach said it was his favorite, but it's gotten bad reviews on Guía Oleo. I'm hoping this is because Argentines can't handle spicy food... Damian's coming with us so hopefully he'll manage.

Anyway, went back to Cafe Tolon this morning. Thought about finding a new place (it's cheaper toward Abasto and further into Palermo) but I woke up hungry and I'd hate to be disappointed with bad medialunas after being away from them for so long. Plus I still feel a bit of allegiance to Bruno who just poured the leche so perfectly. And the croissants are golden brown.

Went down to coffee dressed "casual American" in jeans, my Waterloo Records t-shirt, brown hoodie and Argentine Pumas. Hair in an "I don't care" humid halo; face clean of any make up. I figure Tolon might as well be my kitchen, so I can wear whatever I want. Well, that and I figure if I'm going to force myself to run today it might be easier if I had at least half my jogging clothes on. I mean, if the Argentine ideal is to look American, why fight it? So today I wore what I would wear around town in Dallas or Austin.

Back at Parque Las Heras, I paused during my run and thought: in my next life I will learn the guitar and speak French, be a folk singer and a yoga instructor, spend less on clothes and more on travel... And then I thought, "No, in my next life I wouldn't change a thing." I reflected on the things Annemarie has told me during of her extra seven years' life experience. And I decided there's still plenty of time for French lessons and guitar instruction. I'm now reading The Poisonwood Bible, and I bumped my flight back to June 26. So now I should have time to travel to Peru and Iguazu Falls, hopefully catch the free Shakira concert in May... Really the best thing for my graduate education is to stay and travel. It's like I told the little old lady on the subway: I'm learning way more than I ever would in classes. You can't be shy. You can't be embarrassed. If you don't speak Spanish, you don't eat. You don't find your way home. Hablar castellano es necesario para sobrevivir.

In other news,

an episode of The Simpson's has stirred up quite the commotion in Argentina, referencing Juan Peron as a dictator who "disappeared people." A former congressman is trying to prevent the episode from airing in Argentina once it is redubbed come June or July, but many Argentines have already seen the episode online. See below:


Moe: "Who wants to abolish democracy forever? Show a hands!"
Carl: "I could really go for some kind of military dictator, like Juan Peron. When he 'disappeared' you, you stayed 'disappeared!' "
Lenny: "Plus his wife was Madonna."

Oh, and according to Conrad's blog, there is an African lion running loose in Brazil.